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Cold War
Cold War is the latest Splinter Cell
"clone" to land on the XBox and PC that follows the heroic exploits of
Matt Carter, a freelance journalist who unwittingly finds himself in the
midst of an international conspiracy that has deadly ramifications for
the U.S.S.R. From the minute you start the game, the realism of the
title hits you immediately as you find yourself waking up in a KGB
prison, stripped of all your possessions. With only your wits and
instincts at hand, you must somehow escape your captives in order to
prevent the U.S.S.R falling into the wrong hands and perhaps the chain
reaction needed to start World War III.
Cold War is an interesting game on the PC and although it's similar to
the Splinter Cell series, there is enough in this title to make it
different. The camera system of the game switches between first person
and third person, depending on what actions you are performing in the
game. For instance, when performing stealth activities, the camera
automatically switches to a third person perspective and back to a first
person perspective when you are using your guns.
The gameplay itself uses a combination of stealth and action that is
heavily influenced by the items that you discover in the gaming
environments. Thankfully, unlike Splinter Cell, the game can be
completed in a number of different ways to not only increase the
longevity of the title but also to prevent a linear timeline.
The combat system of the
Cold War is relatively easy to master but I must admit that the
artificial intelligence in the title sometimes performed a little
strange that actually makes this game on the moderate side of
difficulty. As with all stealth games, your main objectives is sneak
around in the shadows without alerting too many enemies to your
presence.
What really sets this game apart from Splinter Cell is that your
character can make a variety of different gadgets with the objects that
he finds. Although all these items are already predetermined, it does
make for some fun and interesting gameplay, especially when things
become a little too hectic. Your character also has access to an x-ray
camera (awesome graphics) that allows you look through walls to know
where the enemy is, not to mention where weapons and key items are
hiding.
Graphically, Cold War is a visual treat on the PC that uses
state-of-the-art graphics and special effects to thoroughly immerse you
into the mid-1980's of the U.S.S.R with locales that are diverse and
colourful such as Stalingrad to dreary Chernobyl. All the characters in
the game have been professionally designed and move with a humanlike
grace that contain high resolution texture details and shadows. The
special effects of the title are top class and some of the fire effects
in this title are the most realistic that I have seen in a game and
match that with some great prerendered cinematics and you have one
impressive looking title.
The musical score of Cold War sounds like it has come straight out of a
Hollywood espionage movie like Tom Clancy and really helps draw you into
the world of 1980's Russia with its heavy influence of Communism. Add
some professional voice acting, some realistic sound effects and it's
almost as if you're watching a movie but you're actually starring in it.
In conclusion, Cold War is very adept title on the PC that is almost
like you're playing a Tom Clancy Splinter Cell game but with a twist.
With extraordinary graphics, an interesting yet sometimes clichéd
storyline, Cold War has enough going on for most gamers to check it out.
The only down side to the title is probably the replay value as I found
this game a little on the easy side. Check it out though, there's not
much better in the world at the moment!
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